Languages:
English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic

Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 315,000 (2012);
mobile cellular: 16.355 million (2012). Broadcast media: public broadcaster, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), operates radio and television networks; Uganda first began licensing privately-owned stations in the 1990s; by 2007 there were nearly 150 radio and 35 TV stations, mostly based in and around Kampala; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available in Kampala (2007). Internet Service
Providers (ISPs):32,683 (2012). Internet users: 3.2 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 1,244
km (2008). Highways: total: 20,000 km; paved: 3,264 km; unpaved: 16,736 km (2011). Waterways: there are no long navigable stretches of river in Uganda; parts of the Albert Nile that flow out of Lake Albert in the northwestern part of the country are navigable; several lakes including Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga have substantial traffic; Lake Albert is navigable along a 200-km stretch from its northern tip to its southern shores (2011). Ports and harbors: Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell.
Airports: 47 (2013).

International disputes: Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces that extend across its borders; Uganda hosts 209,860 Sudanese, 27,560 Congolese, and 19,710 Rwandan refugees, while Ugandan refugees as well as members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) seek shelter in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba National Park; LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages across the border.

Geography

Uganda, twice the size of Pennsylvania, is in East Africa. It is
bordered on the west by Congo, on the north by the Sudan, on the east by
Kenya, and on the south by Tanzania and Rwanda. The country, which lies
across the equator, is divided into three main areas—swampy lowlands, a
fertile plateau with wooded hills, and a desert region. Lake Victoria
forms part of the southern border.

Government

Multiparty democractic republic.

History

About 500 B.C. Bantu-speaking peoples
migrated to the area now called Uganda. By the 14th century, three
kingdoms dominated, Buganda (meaning "state of the Gandas"), Bunyoro, and
Ankole. Uganda was first explored by Europeans as well as Arab traders in
1844. An Anglo-German agreement of 1890 declared it to be in the British
sphere of influence in Africa, and the Imperial British East Africa
Company was chartered to develop the area. The company did not prosper
financially, and in 1894 a British protectorate was proclaimed. Few
Europeans permanently settled in Uganda, but it attracted many Indians,
who became important players in Ugandan commerce.

Uganda became independent on Oct. 9, 1962. Sir Edward Mutesa, the king
of Buganda (Mutesa II), was elected the first president, and Milton Obote
the first prime minister, of the newly independent country. With the help
of a young army officer, Col. Idi Amin, Prime Minister Obote seized
control of the government from President Mutesa four years later.

A Dictator's Reign of Terror

On Jan. 25, 1971, Colonel Amin deposed President Obote. Obote went into
exile in Tanzania. Amin expelled Asian residents and launched a reign of
terror against Ugandan opponents, torturing and killing tens of thousands.
In 1976, he had himself proclaimed "President for Life." In 1977, Amnesty
International estimated that 300,000 may have died under his rule,
including church leaders and recalcitrant cabinet ministers.

After Amin held military exercises on the Tanzanian border in 1978,
angering Tanzania's president, Julius Nyerere, a combined force of
Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles loyal to former president Obote
invaded Uganda and chased Amin into exile in Saudi Arabia in 1979. After a
series of interim administrations, President Obote led his People's
Congress Party to victory in 1980 elections that opponents charged were
rigged. On July 27, 1985, army troops staged a coup and took over the
government. Obote fled into exile. The military regime installed Gen. Tito
Okello as chief of state.

New President Brings New Hope

The National Resistance Army (NRA), an anti-Obote group led by Yoweri
Museveni, kept fighting after it had been excluded from the new regime. It
seized Kampala on Jan. 29, 1986, and Museveni was declared president.
Museveni has transformed the ruins of Idi Amin and Milton Obote's Uganda
into an economic miracle, preaching a philosophy of self-sufficiency and
anti-corruption. Western countries have flocked to assist him in the
country's transformation. Nevertheless, it remains one of Africa's poorest
countries. A ban on political parties was lifted in 1996, and the
incumbent Museveni won 72% of the vote, reflecting his popularity due to
the country's economic recovery.

Uganda has waged an enormously successful campaign against AIDS,
dramatically reducing the rate of new infections through an intensive
public health and education campaign. Museveni won reelection in March
2001 with 70% of the vote, following a nasty and spirited campaign.

Close ties with Rwanda (many Rwandan Tutsi exiles helped Museveni come
to power) led to the cooperation of Uganda and Rwanda in the ousting of
Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, and a year later, in efforts to unseat
his successor, Laurent Kabila, whom both countries originally supported
but from whom they grew estranged. But in 1999, Uganda and Rwanda
quarreled over strategy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and began
fighting each other. The two countries mended their differences in 2002.
Uganda also signed a peace accord with the Congo in Sept. 2002 and finally
withdrew its remaining troops from the country in May 2003.

In July 2005, parliament amended the constitution to eliminate term
limits, thus allowing President Museveni another term in office. In
August, a multi-party political system was reinstituted after a 19-year
absence. In Feb. 2006, Museveni was reelected with 59% of the vote.

The Threat of the Lord's Resistance Army

Uganda's 18-year-long battle against the brutal Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA), an extremist rebel group based in Sudan, showed signs of abating in
Aug. 2006, when the rebels agreed to declare a truce. Between 8,000 and
10,000 children have been abducted by the LRA to form the army of
"prophet" Joseph Kony, whose aim was to take over Uganda and run it
according to his vision of Christianity. The boys are turned into soldiers
and the girls into sex slaves. Up to 1.5 million people in northern Uganda
have been displaced because of the fighting and the fear that their
children will be abducted. Kony and three other LRA leaders have been
indicted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International
Criminal Court. The LRA and the government signed a permanent cease-fire
in February 2008. Kony failed to show up to sign the landmark agreement several times in 2008, dashing hopes for formalized peace. The rebels, however, sought a cease-fire in January 2009, after the armies of Uganda, Southern Sudan, and Congo attacked their bases.

Parliament introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in November 2009. The legislation would implement the death penalty on gay individuals. The proposed bill met fierce condemnation from the European Union and the United States. Parliament did not act on the bill, and it became increasingly unpopular following the January 2011 murder of Ugandan gay-rights activist David Kato. In May, the government shelved the bill.

In July 2010, about 75 people watching the final game of the World Cup in a Kampala restaurant were killed in an explosion. The Somali militant Islamist group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying the attack was aimed at discouraging countries from supporting the transitional government in Somalia. Al-Shabab has been battling Somalia's weak, Western-backed government for power for several years. Uganda contributes troops to an African Union force that has been propping up the government in Somalia.

Museveni Elected to a Fourth Term

Musveni was elected to a fourth term in Feb. 2011 elections, taking 68.4% of the vote. Opposition leader Kizza Besigye garnered 26% and alleged fraud in the election. In late April, protests over rising food and fuel prices and corruption broke out in Kampala. The government responded with disproportionate force, killing five people and wounding dozens. Besigye, who was a leading figure in organizing the protests, was arrested and shot. He fled to Kenya upon release from jail for medical treatment. His return to Kenya coincided with Musveni's inauguration, and Besigye's supporters far outnumbered those for the president. In fact, the opposition launched the largest anti-government protest to date.

In Oct. 2011, Uganda's foreign minister and two other members of the ruling party resigned to face corruption charges. The recent discovery of large oil reserves has put further strain on a government famous for fraud. Following allegations that oil companies paid bribes to ministers, President Yoweri Museveni denied that his government engaged in fraud when handing out oil contracts. Meanwhile, parliament has voted to suspend all pending oil deals until a national oil policy could be put in place.

Getting Closer to Capturing Kony

In May 2012, one of the Lord's Resistance Army's top military strategists and commander, Caesar Acellam, was captured by Ugandan soldiers near the Central African Republic's border with Congo. Although Acellam is not one of those indicted along with Joseph Kony for crimes against humanity, his capture will provide valuable intelligence, which will, in turn, bring Kony one step closer to judgment before the International Criminal Court.

Lawyer Amama Mbabazi served as prime minster from May 2011 until Sept. 2014, when he was dropped from the Cabinet. On Sept. 18, 2014, Ruhakana Rugunda succeeded Mbabazi as prime minister. A physician, Rugunda has served in a variety of Cabinet posts since 1986.